1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a face, neck and chin exerciser. More particularly, the invention relates to an exerciser device fully mounted inside the mouth that exercises the muscles surrounding the mouth using resistance or tension.
2. Related Art
The desire to reduce or slow the effects of aging is omnipresent. Often, painful surgical procedures are endured in an effort to have a younger appearing face and neck. Less intrusive ways of reducing the effects of aging have been attempted through the use of exercise devices, which frequently do not yield the results promised.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,528,655 to Ruderian discloses a facial muscle- and skin-conditioning device. This device comprises a resilient strip curved into an arch-shaped configuration that is disposed in a person's mouth. Contraction of the cheek muscles to bring the inner surfaces of the cheek closer together press the diverging ends of the arch closer together. This in turn, exerts a forward-protruding pressure on the central portion of the curved strip to stretch the lips, thereby effecting exercising of the facial muscles and associated skin. Disk-shaped extenders may be added on the sides of the curved strip to accommodate people having larger-than-average mouths.
However, during exercise, this device has a tendency to dislodge or pop out of the mouth. Therefore, to use such a device, it is necessary to use your hand to hold the device in one's mouth. Moreover, this device fails to provide sufficient flexing of the muscles to achieve noticeable results. Furthermore, the semi-rigid materials that need to be used for this device are painful to the tender mouth tissue and put stress on the teeth and mouth.
In addition, a device sold under the trademark Facial-Flex.RTM. is purported to provide the effects of a face lift without surgery. See, for example, an advertisement for the Facial-Flex.RTM. device from "The New Yorker," Oct. 9, 1995, p. 39. With this device, two U-shaped portions are wedged in the corners of the mouth. Then, the mouth is moved such that the interconnecting rods expand and contract linearly. However, the use of this device does not provide any support for retaining the shape of the lips, and therefore, deep wrinkles extending perpendicularly from the lips, which are often called "whistle-marks," may form with the extended use of this device. Moreover, this device utilizes metal rods which may present safety problems. For example, if this exercising device is used while driving or engaging in athletic activity and an accident occurs, the metal rods may puncture or wound the mouth. Furthermore, the use of this device may interfere with bridge-work or weakened teeth.